


Motor-Oil and Flamers

by clowncowboyz



Category: Red Dead Redemption
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1950s, Alternate Universe - Bikers, Biker AU, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Gay Cowboys, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Period-Typical Homophobia, Recreational Drug Use, Slow Burn, Some angst, hosea and dutch if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-09-28 11:37:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 14,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17182247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clowncowboyz/pseuds/clowncowboyz
Summary: After a long time on the motorcycle, all the gang wants to do is settle down at a cheap motel and play some pool.Arthur tries to join them, but his budding feelings for his roommate, Charles, stops him from ever being off-edge.or the Van Der Linde Gang are bikers and Arthur is struggling with his feelings for Charles





	1. Gaptooth Gang

As the motel grew in their vision, Arthur Morgan and the rest of the Van Der Linde bikers pulled into the only motel in Gaptooth Ridge, The Smiling Stay.  
Each biker pulled into the parking lot, managing to take up most of the available spots with all of their different motorcycles. Turning off the ignition, Arthur stepped off his bike, securing the helmet to the handlebars and walking to the front desk, Hosea Matthews close in tail. “ Uh, ‘scuse me sir?”, Arthur rang the bell at the front desk, prompting the main worker(a teenage boy that clearly wasn’t interested in being there) to turn around from his book and look towards them.  
“ How many rooms?” The boy said, grabbing a book and a pencil, and reaching to get some keys.  
Arthur fidgeted while standing, prompting Hosea to answer the kid.”We’ll need about ten rooms, if you can,”. The boy looked surprised, staring at both men in front of him. “ And if it’s okay, we have our… uh… vehicles, parked out front,”.  
“ Sure thing, sir,”. The boy handed Arthur the room keys and door numbers, and the two men went on their way. They walked back to the front where the rest of the gang had finally showed up. Arthur had been used to riding for a long time and was used to the dirt and grime that came along with it, but seeing Lenny and Mary-Beth both spit immediately and try to dust off the gunk on them was a nice reminder of the young days of riding off into the night.  
Arthur was removed from his day dreaming to the bellowing voice of Dutch and Hosea grabbing the keys from his hands, announcing something new. “ I know it’s not everyone’s first choice of roommates this time, but we’re cramped on money, and therefore we’re cramped on space too. If there is any serious problem with your particular roommate, which there shouldn’t be,” Dutch looked to Micah and then around at the camp. “ Then let me know and we can work something out,” Arthur stood next to John and Abigail, who was holding Jack in her arms. He still couldn’t believe how a baby could survive the tough life, but he commemorated the two for trying. Arthur was okay with getting paired with anyone in the group, since they’d all been roomed together at once point in the past, and it wasn’t like this time would be any different.  
“ Hosea and I are together, then it’s John and his family,” He looked over to the family to see Abigail smiling with Jack. “ Then Charles and Arthur in room 23, you can take your things and head up,” Hosea chucked the key at him, Charles managing to grab it before Arthur completely dropped it, making a huge mess of everything.  
“ You okay there, Arthur?” Charles asked, dangling the key in his hands. “ Being with me can’t be that bad, right?” Charles turned on his heels, holding his dufflebag of items and helmet and walking up the stair to their room. Arthur scoffed, stumbling to follow him up, throwing his hands in the air in jest.  
“ Now when would bunking with you ever be an issue?” Charles looked over his shoulder and smiled at Arthur, who turned a nice shade of rose after, ducking his chin into his chest. The door opened and exposed the dumpy little modern themed hotel, long twin sized beds with frumpy covers and a dark bathroom with a tiny mirror. The place wasn’t much, but it wasn’t the worst they’d seen. At least the place had a fridge, which Arthur used immediately by putting his bottle of water and some snacks in there to keep cool. He took his leather jacket off,placing it on the bed and working to remove his belt. “ The only 'issue' here is that I’m still covered in all this fuckin’ dust, damnit,”.  
“ We just got here, Arthur, relax a bit, won’t you?” Charles slid his shoes off, immediately jumping onto the bed and putting his arms behind his head. Arthur and Charles, though not best friends, were still pretty close and often when they’d hang out, it would be set in a comfortable blanket of silence. They were used to being paired to room together, since the last person that roomed with Arthur(Sean) got “too bored” of Arthur, who simply enjoyed the quiet from time to time. Charles groaned as he stretched out wide, taking a glance at Arthur turning on the shower faucet. He had removed his ragged blue shirt and was beginning to take off his skinny jeans, before closing the bathroom door to get ready for his shower. This was a sight Charles could get used to for a bit.


	2. Pool and Flamers

By three PM, most of the gang had gone off to look around the neighborhood for a bit. After taking their well-deserved showers and cleaning any residual desert dust from their pores, Charles suggested something.  
“ How ‘bout we go to that billiard place down a few streets down? Hosea said he went years ago, and that it wasn’t all bad,” Charles began putting his shoes on, fingering his hand through his long dark hair and putting it in a high ponytail. Arthur looked up from his journal on his seat on his bed, taking a moment to think for a bit. After looking at Charles’ face for a few seconds and seeing how bored the man clearly was, he decided to join his friend in a trip to the bar.  
They walked out to their bikes, Arthur getting on his AJS 18, which he’d named Archie after reading the famous comic, and Charles getting on Taima(his Indian Chief bike). They secured their helmets on, revved the engine a few times, and rode off down the street to the hokey little saloon. The outside was practically falling apart, with it’s sad little “POOL INSIDE” sign hanging on by a nail. The inside was making a lot of noise though, which was good news that this place probably wasn’t a complete dump(or maybe that it was, and that there was going to be a hell of lot of locals in the place).  
Arthur opened the doors for Charles, his friend chuckling at the chivalry of it all. Almost immediately they got stares from all around. The majority of the place was old white men, long unkempt mustaches and soul patches gracing their splotchy chins.There were a few young women too, probably just looking to see if anyone lonely enough would buy them a drink or some beer peanuts. Arthur and Charles were used to the states from random people, especially Charles, who looked so ethnically ambiguous that his appearance often left people second guessing their own race. Not to mention, New Austin wasn’t a state particularly known for their acceptance of people of color.  
They sauntered in, ignoring the stares, and walking up to the cash-register. Charles took a glance at the large sign displaying the prices and hours, and ended up getting a two hour long game at table 4 and four glasses of the local beer. Arthur and Charles walked over to their table, grabbing the pool rods and shining the tip with the blue chalk.  
“ So, Mr. Smith,” Arthur says, setting the triangle of balls up on the table.  
“ Charles, Arthur. Mr. Smith was my dad,” Charles butts in, taking a careful swig of his lukewarm beer, before setting it down and aligning his stick with the table.  
“ Charles,” He began again. “ You any good at Pool, or am I gonna have to go easy?” Right as Arthur had said that, Charles managed to knock four of the balls directly into their respective holes. Arthur stood back, grinning as Charles stretched up, blowing the imaginary smoke off the tip of the rod.  
“ I’d say I’m pretty decent,”. He smirked at Arthur who took a long hard swig at his beer, cringing at the bitter taste. Arthur put his in stick with the white ball, and only hitting one in the hole. He scorned, taking another gulp of his beer.  
“ Welp, you might not be great, but you’re at least a bit better than me,” he took a step back, trying to allow Charles to get ready for his next play, accidentally stepping on someone's foot. “ Sorry, mister,” Arthur staggers forward, turning to see the tall balding man starring his right in the eyes. The man looked over at Charles, then back to Arthur.  
“ Watch it, flamer,” The man grunted, trying to turn back to his game before Arthur grabbed his shoulder, looking down at the ground.  
“What did you just call me?” Arthur’s voice, though clearly upset, was still mildly charming. He turned the larger man to face him, now looking him right in the eye. At this proximity, he could practically smell the man’s whiskey breath.  
“ I said flamer. Ya know, faggot,” Arthur backed up, standing slightly appalled, and mostly angry, as the fellows with the tall man all began to laugh along. “ You and your big Indian or black, or whatever, friend too,”. The men continued to laugh, completely oblivious to Arthur’s increased rage as they kept going.  
“ Hey, Arthur, come-” Charles began, grabbing Arthur’s forearm and trying to get him to move along.  
“ No, fuck y’all. How dare you, I’m not a… a faggot or a flamer, you hillbilly trash!” Arthur tried to step closer to the men, failing when Charles finally pulled strong enough to get Arthur to move from his spot. Charles got close to Arthur’s ears.  
“ We can’t stay here. No need to cause a fight on our first night here,” Charles reminded. Arthur shut his mouth, turning to face Charles. His deep brown eyes were pleading with him, and Arthur huffed as a comply. He threw up his hands in the air and walked alongside Charles. Charles threw some money at the bar tender, thanking them for the beer as he towed himself and Arthur out of there.  
Arthur coughed into his hands as he slid his biking gloves on. “ I just can’t believe it! We haven’t been here for even forty minutes and we’re already being called…. Called-” Arthur didn’t have the energy to continue the sentence, instead ending it with a big gruff as he sat on his bike. He looked over at Charles who was slugging a big down coat over his leather jacket. Charles gave him an understanding look before also sitting on his bike and putting the helmet on. “I’m gonna take a ride,” he revved the engine, getting ready to take off.  
“ Not without me, bud. You’ve had quite a lot to drink tonight, and I don't want you going on your own,” Charles pulled up next to Arthur, looking at him with his soft and precious eyes. If anything could get Arthur to agree, it was those eyes. He nodded and set out of the lot and into the open air.


	3. Cold Air and Colder Talks

The farther they got from that bar, the better.

The wind was cold and the dark feeling Arthur got inside was colder. After Charles had forced his way into coming along, Arthur felt as though his every move was being watched, like he was being completely babied by him. He didn’t mind that Charles was there, in fact most times when he went out with Charles on rides he had felt more calm than usual, but this time was different. When Arthur got into these explosive and angry episodes, he just needed to be alone and to let off steam. Usually, he’d ride way too fast or he’d scream into the night as he whizzed by other vehicles, but this time he couldn’t just yell or go too fast, knowing that Charles would probably stop him immediately.

Charles pulled up to Arthur, knowing that no one would be on the already lonely road at this late at night. For a bit, they continued to ride in silence, with only the sound of the roaring motor and the wind against their helmets. Arthur started to speed up casually, making eye contact with Charles. At first Charles was a bit concerned, and was going to ask him to pull over, before Arthur smirked and yelled, “Race me back to the edge of the creek!,” and then sped off the road towards the small creek just west of the main road. Charles groaned, speeding up Taima and leaning forward to get a better position to race.

“Slow down, Arthur, this is a really bad idea!” Charles yelled back, hoping Arthur might actually listen to him, even if he knew if was unlikely. He tightened his grip on the handles, revving the engine and pressing harder on the gas pedal, going up to a solid 90 miles per hour. The road, pathway rather, was bumpy and coarse, all sand and desert dirt, and he really didn’t want to have to buy a new set of wheels for his baby. He also knew Arthur wouldn’t want that for his Archie either, which is exactly why he was so determined to stop him from making a possibly catastrophic drunk angry mistake. “ Arthur Morgan, I swear to god,”.

“ What’s it to you, Smith?” The man cocked his head back briefly to look at Charles, his grin he had only moments ago, replaced with an uncertain shame and anxiety. Although his language was cocky, he slowed down the bike a bit, driving over a particularly large rock and getting a bit worried for his babies tires. Drawing nearer to the lake, he slowed the bike down to a complete halt, turning the engine off while waiting for Charles to catch up. He looked out onto the horizon, the spot between his brows smoothing out and his eyes glazing over with a sort of unfocus, like he was in a different world for a moment. 

“You alright, Arthur?” Charles put his hand on Arthur’s shoulder, watching as the older man tensed for a split second before recognition eventually hit him and he pushed into the touch a bit. Charles got off of his bike, walking over to rest his weight on the edge of Archie, getting closer to Arthur than usual.

“Yeah, ‘course I’m alright,” Arthur mumbled. He scratched his face as he felt Charles’ piercing gaze on his profile.

“You’re real bad at lying, friend,” He chuckled, taking his hand off Arthur’s shoulder and placing it in his lap. He kept his gaze steady on the other man’s face, making sure to keep a close look at what he was feeling at the moment.

Arthur gruffed a small chuck, like a train letting out steam. “Maybe I am,” He put his hands on his knees and walked to the edge of the water bank, kicking stones into the murky water and eventually plopping down on a flat rock. Usually he’d be worried about making sure his and Charles’ bikes were safe, but there was no one around for miles, and the last noise they heard that wasn’t from them was a coyote off in the distance. Biggest fear he had right now had nothing to do with his precious wheels.

“ Ya’ know, Charles,” Arthur began. Charles walked up to the spot Arthur was, talking a seat adjacent to him and playing with some of the dirt on the floor. “ I try to live by the saying that ‘sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me,’ and for for the most part,” he threw his hands up, taking his gaze from the water to Charles. “ For the most part, it works!” Charles nodded. “ Only goddamn time it doesn’t is when they say… when people call me or the gang ‘faggot’ or ‘flamer’,”. Arthur puts his hands back behind him, resting on them and looking up into the sky, with all the stars shining brightly with no fear of light pollution or smog.

“ Do you think there’s a reason why being called that bothers you so much?” Charles asked, moving closer to Arthur and keeping a strong look on him(worried he would push too far or Arthur would sprint at the question). Arthur tensed yet again, tearing his eyes from the moon to Charles eyes. “ I mean, I know when people call me shit about my dad’s race, it’s just… normal, as bad as it sounds. But there’s something about when people call me a ‘redskin’ or ‘little indian boy’ that just gets me pissed, and I’m just wondering if maybe this is something like that for you,”. Charles stopped, making careful note of the way Arthur cringed when he said the racial slurs. That had always been something he liked about Arthur, that unlike a lot of the other white men of the gang, he never once called Charles a slur or Lenny or Javier anything about their ethnicity. He was respectable.

“ You asking if it hits close to home?” He mumbled into his chest, keeping his head low.

“ I, uh… I suppose I am…”.

The men looked at each other, with nothing but understanding in their eyes. Arthur looked hurt and broken, a man hiding a big part of himself. Charles looked forgiving and worried, ready to jump into a hug at the drop of a tear.

“ I don’t think I know yet. Or, maybe I do and I’m jus’ not ready to come to terms with the answer,”. And like clockwork, a few tears spilled over his tear ducts and onto his cheeks. He wasn’t weeping, meerily letting his emotions out a bit. Charles moved slowly over, taking him in his arms and petting his head.

“ Well, whenever you’re ready, big cat, know I’m always here for you,”.

“ Ah, thank you for that,” Arthur wiped his tears and coughed, standing up with a stumble. “ I think the liquor’s worn off, and I’m ready to head on back, I think,”. He turned to the bikes, reassured they were still there. He lent a hand to Charles, pulling him up from the dirty rock pile they’d called a seat for the past forty or so minutes. Time had gone by so quickly that it seemed like they’d only been on the road for seconds.

“ Sure thing, big cat,”.


	4. Steam and Portraits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uhh this one ain't great, but it also ain't awful. also there's some shit in this that's just downright dumb lol.

As the two men drove home, helmets on and gloves keeping their fingers toasty, time seemed to stop. It was silent after their long and emotional talk, and it was better that way for the both of them. They’d been riding for a good twenty minutes before they were able to see  light, realizing they’d ended up pretty far from the rest of the gang. It was around one am when they got back to the motel, parking their motorcycles next to each others and locking the wheel to rack. Arthur gave Archie a firm pat, removing his helmet and helping Charles get Taima all locked for the night.

 

“ You headin’ in soon?” Charles asked, also taking off his helmet to expose a long black braid coming from underneath. He pulled his room key out of his jacket pocket, placing it in the hole and feeling just a bit satisfied when he managed to open it without fuss.

 

Arthur pulled out a cigarette, lighting it with his cheap gas station lighter. “ Eh, I’ll be out soon enough, you go head an’ relax,” Arthur took a puff, sucking in the smoke and realizing it moments later. Charles nodded and walked inside, leaving the door slightly ajar. Left to his lonesome, Arthur kicked at the grubby ground, trying desperately to not get too in his head. Most of the time when he was alone, he’d just zone out and forget about all his worries as best as he could.

 

After that talk though, he was really struggling. He tried to focus on the light blaring through Hosea and Dutch’s room’s window to keep busy, but his subconscious was well aware that this talk was definitely more important. For as tough and callous as Arthur liked to seem, he was a relatively emotional guy, and even if he didn’t cry all that much, he found other outlets to express his sadness. He wasn’t particularly sad with what he and Charles had discussed, but rather distraught. Here was a secret that not even he had completely figured out about himself, and there was Charles who’d read him like a book clear as day. He was frustrated that he couldn’t just admit the reason he hated getting called such homophobic shit, but it hurt. He was raised to like women and for the most part, that was all he’d ever liked. Of course he was still thankful to even have the conversation and was grateful that Charles was there and not some asshole like Bill or Sean, who would undoubtedly tease him relentlessly. He was, very simply put, confused.

 

Going into take another smoke, he’d managed to go through the whole thing in minutes. He coughed a bit, threw the butt on the floor and crushed it under his new Dr. Martins that he’d been given to from Dutch for his birthday. He opened the door, relishing in the warm feeling of the semi-heated room and chucking his jacket off on the bed. He tousled his hair, taking a look in the mirror mounted on the wall in front of the beds before taking his shoes off. It was then when he heard Charles in the bathroom over.

 

“ I’m taking a shower, and I um… might be in here for a while,” he yelled from the other room. Arthur, with his mind fully in the gutter, turned red instantly. ‘I was only out for a few minutes and he already starts jackin’ it?’

“ Do you, um, want me to uhh, leave?” Arthur responded back in a shaky and timid voice, too scared to speak above a mouse sized level. Charles snorted, then cracked the door open to show that he was already out of the shower(and in only a towel, which made it kind of hard for Arty to focus). The room emitted a massive cloud of steam with the door opening, hitting Arthur like a wave of heat.

“ Stop thinking like that, you nasty. I’m just deep conditioning my hair,” Arthur turned his eyes from Charles’ face to his hair, which was covered in a thick layer of goop he only assumed was conditioner. “You look confused,” Charles chuckled.

 

“ I-I don’t want to sound rude, but what’s a deep condition?” 

 

Charles moved out of the bathroom and onto the bed, making sure to only seat the toweled part of himself on the blanket. “ I got really thick hair, and it needs a lot of work to stay soft, so I drench it in conditioner and leave it in for about an hour afterwards. Helps to keep frizz down, too,”.

 

“ Huh. Maybe I should try that,” Arthur said quizzitive, playing with the ends of his own thin, blonde hair.

 

“ It’s not really a good idea for your type of hair,” to which Arthur let out a soft ‘ooh’, and blushed a bit. Though, knowing it wasn’t just that he was stupid and missed out on some important hair care everyone was doing felt better. “ I’m gonna braid it up in a minute, if you want some company, I can stay in here,” He gave Arthur a soft look, genuinely curious.

 

Arthur nodded, already grabbing out his journal and a pencil. He usually avoided writing or drawing when other members of the gang were around, but there was something about his and Charles’ friendship that made him feel safe about it. He watched as Charles’ did up his hair, mindlessly sketching the younger man’s features, cementing one moment of time into his book. It wasn’t a particularly clean drawing, and in many ways, it just barely looked like him, but he didn’t hate this one. It looked soft, despite the harsh shaky lines of the dulled pencil. 

 

Charles looked up after securing a cheap elastic around the base of the braid. He peaked at Arthur, who was deep in focus in his notebook, nose practically shoved in. He grinned, knowing that seeing Arthur this carefree was somewhat of a legendary experience to most people. He walked up to Arthur’s side, startling him when he put a strong hand on the back of Arthur’s neck.

 

“ Geez, tell a man when you come up behind him, Smith!” Arthur slammed his book upside down on the bed, dropping the pencil to the side of his leg. Charles laughed, apologized, but still didn’t move from his spot on Arthur’s neck(not that either of them minded).

 

“ Who were you drawing?” Charles questioned.

 

“ D’ ya actually care?” Arthur responded, less of a question and more of a dry comment. Self-loathing was practically Arthur Morgan’s middle name, and it didn’t take knowing him for a long time to find that one out.

 

“ Arthur, you could show me macaroni on a plate and call it art, and I’d still care,” Arthur laughed at that one, giving in and opening his work up. Inside showed a beautiful drawing of Charles braiding his hair, showing just a little bit of his chest too. It didn’t look exactly like him, but it was still gorgeous nonetheless. “ This is amazing, Arthur, I love it,”. He went in for a hug, holding Arthur in his strong dark arms. Arthur tensed for a moment, unsure of how to respond to so much affection. He’d been given hugs before, but it was only ever from Dutch or Hosea or an ex after he’d gotten hurt. He’d never just gotten a hug for the sake of having a hug. He liked it..

 

“ Of… Of course, Charles,”. 


	5. Breakfasts and Breaks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> happy new years, my sweet homos.

When they woke up to knocking on the door at eleven in the morning, the last person they expected to see was Kieran standing in the doorway with Bill. Even less than that, they really didn’t think that they’d be letting them know that they were going to breakfast with everyone at the local diner.

After a bit of negotiation on Arthur’s part(mostly sleepy whining), the two agreed to get ready and meet them there in thirty minutes. Arthur stood up from bed as he heard the sound of two or three bikes ride out of the motels parking lot. Charles stepped into the bathroom, and Arthur quickly turned his head when he realized Charles was pissing with the door open. He slugged whatever shirt he could find that was clean from his bag, and pulled up his slightly musty jeans, and he was ready in terms of outfit. The two brushed their teeth and Arthur combed his hair in a lazy attempt to look mildly presentable.

“ You ready?” Charles asked, slipping his boots on. Arthur was focused on the gruff and raspiness of Charles’ voice at this early in the morning. He nodded his head, walking out of the room and waiting until Charles had left to close the door. The drive wasn’t bad, and since they’d ridden past it the night before, they didn’t need to ask anyone around for directions, thankfully. Even though they didn’t drink, Arthur felt a bit hungover on emotions after the talk they’d had the night before.

The place, Pearson’s Diner, was nice. It was small and looked a bit worn out, with it’s paint chips and pre-war decorations, but it was homie. The two walked in, spotting Bill and Kieran first, then seeing Dutch, Hosea, John, Abigail, and Jack. Arthur was surprised that the majority of the group wasn’t there, since usually when they went out, it was with everyone.

“ Where’d everyone disappear to?” Arthur chuckled out as he and Charles took chairs right next to each other at the table. Most of everyone else had at least ordered drinks, and Jack had his crappy little set of crayons and a greasy looking paper. 

Dutch took a sip of his drink and nudged Hosea to talk. “ I didn’t want to overcrowd the place and only asked a few of the boys to come,” Hosea gave a big smile to Jack to pulled on his jacket to show his little flower drawing. “ Not to mention that most of them were too hungover to wake up,” Bill scoffed, acting like he wasn’t an avid drinker just because he didn’t drink the night before. 

“Well, hopefully they’ll be able to make it to some kind of breakfast or lunch on their own,” Abigail said, hopeful smile on her face as she leaned into John’s arm. Tough John wasn’t so tough with Abigail around, and in many cases, the whole gang was thankful for that. Arthur was especially thankful, since his usual brotherly disdain for Arthur settled down a bit when his family was there.

The waitress came by, taking their orders and grabbing the menus. John, Hosea and Abigail started in their own little conversation, while Kieran and Jack had their own, each group trying to pass the time while waiting for their food. Bill turned to Charles, setting his glass of orange juice on the table with a thud. “ How was pool last night?” He asked in his typical obnoxious voice. Dutch turned to the two men, clearly also interested.

Arthur was suddenly reminded of all the events that had transpired the day before, becoming increasingly anxious and uncomfortable. His face turned red and his hands fidgeted with the tablecloth with a mix of anger and frustration. He wanted nothing more than to let them know that it was an awful place with no good people and even worse things to say, but Charles was quick to place his palm of Arthur’s shoulder.

“ It was okay. A few bad eggs in the place, but nothing that a group larger than two wouldn’t scare off,” Arthur, though slightly upset that Charles hadn’t mentioned that they’d been called fags, and that he himself had been called an Indian, but he knew that Charles only said this with the best intentions. Plus, he wasn’t totally sure how Bill would react to Arthur getting so offended for getting called fag. The gang had their suspicions about Bill’s sexuality, but the man still knew how to throw an insult around and would for sure be suspicious about anything Arthur said.

“ We might just have to go then, boys,” Dutch belted, turning to Hosea and resting his hand on the older man’s thigh. Arthur’s stomach turned, resisting the urge to ask to leave completely, Charles said he needed to use the bathroom and that Arthur should join, since he’d needed to also take a piss when they’d first got there and had never got around to it.

“ I… Thanks, Charles,” Arthur said when they entered the restroom, turning his attention from Charles, who was indeed taking another piss in the urinal, to the blank wall. Charles finished up, stood next to Arthur and simply nodded.

“ Of course, friend. If you need a way out tonight, just let me know and I’ll find some excuse,”. He laid his head on Arthur’s shoulder.

“ It’ll be okay… I hope,”.

 

+++

 

For the most part, things had indeed been okay that night. All the gang, excluding the women and Jack who’d gone to the local park to play with the kid, had joined and they’d all been having a dandy time. Arthur had been pretty upset when they first got there, even going as far as to spending half the time since they’d arrived outside smoking with Javier. They didn’t talk, and since it wasn’t a particularly calming kind of silence like he had with Charles, he eventually decided to go back inside. His head was swarming with intrusive thoughts and worries that he’d see the men again. His eyes scanned the room for Charles like his life depended on it-

“ Arthur! Good pal, old buddy,” Micah sloshed on over, throwing an arm over his shoulder and grimacing when Arthur quickly pushed it off. “ What’s going on, my friend?” His breath reeked of gin or rum or piss, and if that wasn’t a dead give away of how fucked up he was, the forty degree angle of his body sure was one.

“ We ain’t good pals, Micah, what do you want?” Arthur spotted Charles at the bar sitting alone with a plate of some kind of food, and he attempted to get over there as quickly and safely as possible. It was a bit difficult with Micah still trying to rest on him, but he tried his best. He took the seat next to Charles, desperate to get the slob away from him and onto the next poor fool.

“ I am just wonderin’ why a strong and mean cowboy like you,” At that point, he was only leaning on him and Charles for support in case the fool drunkenly fell over. “ Isn’t with the rest of the big boys playin’ pool. Or maybe Morgan just ain’t good enough for that,”.

In less than a second, Charles got out of his seat and grabbed Micah by the collar, causing him to stumble back a bit. Arthur turned, face red and heart beating out of his chest. Charles got real close to Micah’s face, stern look plastered on. “ You say one more thing to Arthur, and I will personally key your shit bike, so help me god,”. Micah’s face looked worried for a moment, before his shit eating grin was back. 

“ Why you acting like you got the hots for Morgan? You his girly-friend or somethin’?” Charles face went blank. Arthur threw his drink on the table, stomping his way out of the saloon and leaving amidst the clutter and noise of the place. Charles let Micah go, taking a moment to assess spitting in the guys face, before seeing Hosea and Dutch in hand walking over to them.

“ What in the humanly hell is going on?” Dutch yelled, fists clenched. Charles could tell he and Hosea were both a bit tipsy, but they were obviously still able to form words and opinions, and hopefully would be able to help out.

“ Micah was just pestering Arthur and took it several steps too far,” he spoke bluntly. Dutch looked at him in the eyes, searching for any bit of false in his statement, but found none.

“ Mr. Bell, may we have a word, please?” Dutch took him to the far corner of the bar, sitting him down on some only stool. Hosea turned to Charles, sending the man a soft and forgiving look.

“ Go let Arthur know that things are okay, and if you two want, or rather, need to take a break and get a way for a couple of days, I’ll let Dutch know and you two can be off in the morning,”. Hosea pat him on the back before walking over to the two men scolding in the corner.

He made his way outside, staring at Arthur who’d managed to slump himself over his bike’s seat, another smoke in his mouth. He was looking up at the stars, and his eyes were a bit red from what he assumed were tear stains.” You okay, big guy?” He asked, moving over to him and taking the cig from his mouth to get a blow of his own. Arthur shifted his position from his back to upright, wiping his eyes and sniffling a bit.

“ I seem alright to you?”

Charles chuckled, feeling awful for the man. “ No, not really,” he took a look at Arthur and   
bumped his shoulder a bit.” But hey, Hosea said we can go out tomorrow for a few days away from town and get a proper break,”. 

Arthur looked skeptic, eyebrows furrowed and his nose a bit scrunched. Charles couldn’t help but think he looked cute there. Arthur shrugged, “ Oh, ‘ion know, Charles. Don’t ya’ think they need us here?” 

“ Not all the time, Arthur. Plus,” He held onto Arthur’s gloved hands. “ You need a break. Even Hosea thinks it, hell, I bet even Bill thinks it,”.

“ I don’t know if Bill thinks much of anything, but thank you Charles. We can see in the morning. For right now, I just want to be in a warm bed,”.

“ Of course, Arthur. I’m here for you, bud,”.


	6. Yellow Lights and Sleepy Men

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'll admit, this is kinda a filler up until the end, but I promise it's important.

“Charles, I’m just not sure that I feel comfortable leavin’ the group behind for so long-”

“It’ll be two days, if even,” Charles reassured the older man. They’d headed back to the motel after the whole fiasco with Micah, and after Charles had suggested - told, rather - that they were going to be getting away for a bit. They were hitching their bikes, taking their helmets off in tandem and opening the door to their rooms.

“Regardless of how long, I just don’t want to leave my people behind, Charles. I just don’t want anyone gettin’ hurt, ‘s all,” Arthur took his jacket and shirt off, looking at his face in the mirror and picking at some dry skin before Charles came over and lightly pulled his hand away from his face.

“ Everyone wants this for you, and lord knows you need it, Arty,” Charles threw a clean shirt(one of his own, actually) at Arthur and waited until he pulled it over his head for him to be satisfied. Arthur had always known Charles to be a stubborn guy, but he wasn’t usually this stubborn. He knew realistically though, that it was a safe bet to just give up and go along with him. Plus, if it meant he’d get to spend more quality time with his good friend, he’d gladly go for it.

He grunted a bit, looking around the room at all his stuff that was suddenly in his neat travel bag(something he assumed Charles had done while he was busy getting his grubby fingers all over his face). “Fine then, but I get to pick the place we stay at, ‘lright?” He threw his hands up in the air, rolling his eyes at Charles slight smile as they grabbed their bags and head out on the road.

 

+++

Though it had felt like they were riding for hours, and they’d had been riding for quite some time, they eventually made it to some little area called Plainview that looked to be some old oil town turned small city living. After some quick asking around, Arthur found a motel with a relatively nice looking exterior, only hoping that it was nicer than the last place. The bright pink neon sign outside read “The Bravo”, and when he saw the glowing OPEN, he was quick to pull over and usher Charles with him.

Yet again, they made their ways off their bikes, Charles grabbing both their bags and followed Arthur to the main lobby of the building. The lobby was just a small room off the side of the main motel, walls and floors both covered in the same red wool carpet that made the whole place smell a bit like sweat and sheep, and gave off a very sexual vibe.

“ Uh, ‘scuse me, ma’am,” Arthur looked down at the woman sitting at the desk, midlessly writing away on a sheet of paper and tapping her long nails. She turned her attention to him, taking a long look between both men and squinting a bit before sighing. 

“ If you’re looking for a restroom to use, we ain’t got one,”.

“ No, actually, we’re looking to see if you have any rooms available right now?” Arthur fumbled to get his wallet out, the old leather falling apart at the seams. She raised a brow at him, suddenly turning to look for the keys to a room.

“ We only got one bed rooms,is that alright with you two?” 

Both men looked at each other and blushed, before Arthur nodded and was handed the form to fill out. He gave her the twenty dollars for two nights and was handed the key to room 7.

They sauntered out to their rooms, both ridden with sleep and overstimulated emotions from events of the earlier day. They jangled to lock open and were immediately hit with an overwhelming smell of sex. The room was blasted with a light yellow light that made the pink wallpaper look almost apricot like. The bed was oval shaped and covered in the most frilly bed sheets either man had ever seen. 

Charles began laughing as he set down the bags next to the bed and looked over at the bedside table to find lube and a condom there, holding it up for Arthur, who was still barely passed the door frame in awe, to see. “ I can’t believe we traveled all this way to get to a goddamn love motel,”.

“ Jesus,” Arthur yawned, already getting changed into his pajamas after the shock of the room had left. “ At least it’s looks sleepable,” He said, hopping onto the bed and closing his eyes. “ I’d love to think about all the fun things we’ll be doin’ tomorrow, but I just need to sleep right now, join me when you want,”. As Arthur’s eyes drew closed and his breathing evened, Charles kept a soft look him. He crawled into bed not long after, making sure to rinse his mouth with wash and brush out his hair before laying on the faux silk pillows and turning out the atrocious yellow light.

Getting comfortably situated into bed, Charles turned over to face Arthur, their faces no less than ten inches from each others. He’d seen Arthur close up before, but there was something about the way the last few days had gone that really changed his look for Charles. Charles had never been frightened of his sexuality, since he wasn’t too keen on long lasting relationships in the first place, that he’d never really saw anything wrong with liking both sexes. When he saw a pretty girl, he walked on, never trying to pursue her for anything more than a senseless hook-up. The same went for men, when he’d see an attractive man, he’d share a quicky and move on with his life. It wasn’t that he didn’t want a relationship, he just never found a suitable time or person.

Though, there was something about the way when Arthur’s arm involuntarily slugged over Charles’ side that made him crave something more. Something in the way Charles progressively drew nearer to the man that night in their sleep that made him need something else. There was something about Arthur that made Charles want to love stronger.


	7. Movies and Old Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this was fun to write, though i'll admit, i don't remember any of it.

The morning at the love hotel was slow. Arthur and Charles had been rudely woken up by the sound of a straight couple above them having sex at the ass crack of dawn, and even though Charles was able to go back into his deep sleeps, Arthur simply couldn’t just pretend to not hear the people moaning in the room up top. He resorted to turning on the small radio in the room and doodling in his journal. He drew some of the surroundings, including the lube and condom before he put them in the cupboard in the bathroom, and wrote about the happenings of the previous day. Although he was still a bit worried about the gang, he was happy to get some time to properly relax. And knowing he was with Charles, a man who made him blush on the daily, was nice.

A few hours later and Charles had been woken up by Arthur who wanted to get breakfast at the motels buffet. It was mediocre food and they were surrounded by hungover and absolutely dead looking couples, but it was the best option they had without spending too much. “Let’s see a movie today,” Charles said, right as Arthur had put a spoonful of his scrambled eggs into his mouth. Arthur thought for a bit, realizing it was a pretty cheap option, and on top of that it was always nice to see a movie on lazy days like these. “There’s a new western I wanna see called ‘Rio Bravo’,”.

“Who’s in it?” Arthur set his utensils on the plate and his napkin down before slouching back in his chair and looking at Charles. Charles had an unusual shine in his eyes, one that he wasn’t particularly used to, but was excited to see. It felt like something only he knew about, a little piece of Charles that Arthur had all to his own.

“John Wayne, Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, the whole cowboy bunch, seems right up your alley,” Arthur chuckled, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. 

“I didn’t think you was one for the cinema,” Arthur said, a mix of a question and a statement playing in the tone.

“Never used to be, but it can be nice in passing the time,”. Arthur, still leaning back in his chair, let out a long and accepting sigh.Why the hell not.

“Sure thing, buckeroo,”.

They hopped on Taima, Arthur claiming his ass was too saddle sore and he didn’t want to have to drive Archie all the way out. Charles knew he just didn’t want to spend anymore money on gas(which was partially true, but not the main reason), but he didn’t mind. Arthur was excited to be able to hold onto Charles’ waist, feeling him breathe and feel his muscles move with each twist and turn on the road.

By the time they got to the large outdoor shopping mall, not even two miles from their residence, it was about one in the afternoon. It wasn’t too packed, which they both were thankful for, seeing as they weren’t too keen on being recognized. They walked to the front of the theatre, seeing a sign for a one-thirty show, five cents each. Charles went up, refusing to let Arthur pay for his own ticket and inevitably sliding the man behind the booth his own money. The two got popcorn, drenched in hot butter and coated in salt, two cans of coke, and Arthur got a box of junior mints, in hopes that he wouldn’t be plagued with popcorn breath once the film was over.

Sitting in the second to last row, Arthur and Charles sat down just as the commercials were finishing. They’d set the popcorn down in the middle of them, putting the arm rests on either side of them down, and relaxing into the faux velvet chairs. The movie started and the beginning credits began to role, taking far too long for anyone to just casually enjoy. Arthur rolled his eyes, impatient as always and eager for the action to start.

“Can’t they just skip the credits?” Charles huffed a chuckled, patting Arthur’s shoulder. Arthur looked at the man, his warm nutmeg skin only dimly lit by the movie’s screen, but his plush lips looking softer than normal. Or maybe they were just as soft as usual. Arthur never really looked this close at Charles’ lips until that moment.

He was thrown out of his imaginary dream world when Charles spoke up, turning to him yet again. “Eyes on the movie, cowboy,”. Arthur flushed, his head spinning to face the large screen and focus back on the movie. About ninety minutes in, the peak of the movie just in eyes sight, Arthur reached for his popcorn. Over the course of the hour and a half that they’d been in there, the popcorn had sauntered over to Charles’ lap. He stuck his hand out to grab a handful of popcorn, instead feeling a large, warm, and slightly buttery hand fall into his own, attempting to interlock fingers. He froze for a moment, eyes expanding and sneaking a glaze to see Charles. He couldn’t completely tell, again for the lack of better lighting, but Charles seemed just as red as Arthur, who was roughly the shade of a freshly boiled lobster.

Arthur settled his hand into the other man’s, and for the rest of the movie, they enjoyed it hand in hand, occasionally squeezing it as a reminder that they were still there in the moment, just living life as it was, and as it should be.

++++

Once the movie had finished, and the joy of seeing it on the big screen had worn off, Arthur had suggested the idea of walking around the mall for a bit. They had nowhere in particular to go, and it was a pretty mall with relatively nice store(nothing they could ever buy from on their own, but purchasing fairly was not always their intentions).

“I’m thinking we head into that nice lil’ store over there, the one that says,” Charles squinted his eyes to make out the small sign above the opening. “H. Moon’s?” 

“You need glasses, old man,” Arthur said, moments before getting pushed over and stumbling a bit. Charles responded with something along the lines of ‘you’re one to talk’, and the two burst out laughing as they walked through the lavish doors of the shop. Immediately, they were greeted with a tall man, face all too familiar to Arthur, wearing just about the most ridiculously avant garde get up imaginable. “Trelawny?”

“You know this guy?” Charles whispered, getting a bit closer to Arthur in the tiny store.

“Do I know Arthur?” The man, Trelawny, he guessed, spun around to give both of them the biggest shit-eating grin. “We go back decades, constant run ins with Dutch and the rest of them,” He shook both their hands, firmly through his white leather gloves. “And you are…?”

“Ah, Charles Smith, sir,”.

“Well nice to meet you, dear!” He drew his large bag out from under his arm, grabbing a bundle of patches and distributing them amongst the two. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got a date with destiny, and by destiny, I mean a court hearing. But take these! I didn’t want them anyway,”. Arthur and Charles looked confused as always, but accepted them as they watched Trelawny scurry out of the store, long pink cape trailing behind him.

“That was... Interesting, to say the least,” Charles leaned onto Arthur’s side a bit and reviling in the close proximity. 

“Yeah, well that’s Trelawny,” He pocketed the patches, and started walking towards the exit, only to hear a deafening siren sound as they walked out the door. Instinctually, they both sprinted, just barely making it to the parking lot and hopping on Taima and getting the hell out of there. They laughed as they rode off into the evening, patches nearly flying out on multiple occasions. “ Goddamn Josiah, always pulling this shit,” Arthur said when they’d pulled over once they were far enough away. He spoke lovingly of the man, like remembering a rude family member that you still loved despite their problems.

“ I can sew them on to our jackets later,” Charles said, pulling out two matching buck head patches and pressing them against the chest of Arthur’s black jacket. For a moment, he could feel Arthur’s heartbeat and how it quickened when his touch lingered for a moment. Both men smiled, getting back on the road and wheezing out of sight into the dusty New Austin air.


	8. Drive-in and Drunkards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this one contains drug use, and i know it was illegal in the '50s but it think its funny and cute

“I'm hungry as hell, Charles, let’s just pull over for a meal,” Arthur spoke, his stomach a grumbling mess as the evening turned into night in the open desert sky. After they’d rode far enough from the store, the two decided to try to drive around town and see what there was to see around. They’d spent some time taking photos of large statues and visited the old oil plants they had in Plainview, making sure to ask random passersbys to take pictures of the two of them in front of the landmarks. Though it wasn’t world renowned, or even famous by American standards, it was a nice little city that Arthur quite enjoyed.

“We passed by a Shell’s drive-in a street back, you wanna check it out?” Charles said, as they were stopped at a light. The night was still young, and they hadn’t had any food since the movie, so it was safe to assume both were pretty hungry, being the big boys they were. Arthur nodded, the two pulling a U-turn and driving down to the diner. Since it was a chain restaurant, it was a lot bigger than the other diners they’d been to recently. The place was about three times the size of their hotel room, which meant they’d be able to have as much privacy as possible while they ate - a luxury they so seldom achieved. Arthur walked up to the register, watching as Charles went to get a seat in the back of Shell’s, next to a window. Arthur ordered two burgers and a side of fries, and deciding to splurge on a milkshake for the two of them to share. It only took a few moments before the food was ready, arriving just in time for Arthur to carry the red tray back to the table.

“What’d you get us on this fine dinner date?” Charles said casually, straightening up a bit in his seat and grabbing some fries to eat. Arthur’s eyes went wide for a bit, his posture tightening a bit in his seat on the booth across from Charles. The younger man raised a brow, “What’s wrong?”

“I just didn’t realize this was a date, I guess,” Arthur rubbed the back of his neck, pulling on the collar of his shirt, feeling immensely warm all of a sudden. He watched as Charles conniving smirk turned into a genuine smile, almost reaching his eyes the way it only did when he was at his peak. It was a look that Arthur always prefered on the big guy. “Not that it’s a bad thing, it’s great! Just that I haven’t been on a date since Mary…”

“Who’s Mary? I’ve heard the girls gossiping about her, but I never really got the whole story,” Charles asked, shoving the burger in his mouth and maintaining eye-contact with Arthur the whole time. Arthur sighed, setting his burger down and getting prepared to let his whole feelings out on the table. He knew it was bound to come up, with all the new emotions going on between them, it only seemed fair for Arthur to talk about such an important part of his life with the new part of his life.

“She was my ex-fiancee, I suppose. We was tryin’ to get married about-god, nine years ago, now? She was a good woman, too good for me at times, but her dad wasn’t too keen on me and that was all it took for her to drop me off and get with the next man. Heard they got married only a year or two later, absolutely broke me. I was real mean back then, on account of losing the only person I’d ever loved romantically. She and I wrote each other a bit sometime back, maybe a year or two, but it wasn’t the same. She invited me for dinner with her and the husband, but I knew it would hurt too much to see her so… happy without me. It’s selfish and dumb, even I know that-” Arthur was promptly shut up with a fry being pushed into his mouth by Charles. He blinked, washing away the tears threatening to spill over his tear-ducts. Charles face looked comforting and all too knowing. He could tell that Charles cared, which only made it harder to not cry. He ate the fry in his mouth and coughed into his elbow, taking a sip of the shake to distract himself. “Sorry you had to hear all of that, Charles,”.

“I’m glad I got you to open up, seemed like you needed to get that out,” He reached his dark hands out to touch Arthur’s forearm and rub it a bit. His eyes looked so forgiving to Arthur, and he couldn’t help but get lost in them the longer he looked at the man. “I think this calls for a drink or two,”.

“I couldn’t agree more,”.

 

+++

The drive to the 7-Eleven across from their motel was nice, shrouded in tales told by Charles about all the times he’d been awkwardly hit on, and all the times he failed to hit on others, all of which made Arthur almost choke laughing. By the time they walked back to the motel(since they’d done the sensible thing and just parked Taima at the motel and walked instead of risking drinking and driving), half of the first bottle of Jack Daniels they’d opened up was empty. Still only tipsy, the two opened the door to the motel room, plopping onto the bed and chugging the rest of it.

“Ya know, Charles, I have some giggle-smokes in my bag that Javier brought up from Mexico the last time he was down there if ya want any,” Arthur reached for his satchel, pulling out a well-packed blunt and lighting the end.

“What’d you just call it? A giggle-smoke?” Charles burst out laughing, almost toppling over the side of the bed, but catching a hold of Arthur’s hand as it stretched out to meet his own.

“I dunno, it sounded cooler in ma’ head,” He too chuckled, taking a long drag of the blunt, breathing out the smoke and feeling the time start to drift. He passed the blunt to Charles, watching intently as his friend sucked the sticky icky into his lungs, coughing a bit but taking a sip of the whisky to wash it down. Arthur didn’t even want to imagine what kind of pain that must’ve caused.

The night went on like that, the two having short conversations that would abruptly stop when Arthur couldn’t remember where his sentence was going, or when Charles would just close his eyes and start humming to an old tune. “I’m gonna turn on the radio, see what comes on,” Charles said, reaching over to the little sound-system and turning it on to whatever channel it was preset to. 

“Huh, sleepwalk. I like this song, even if it’s overplayed,” Arthur began to sway back and forth in his spot on the bed, head against the headrest and body limp underneath him. His arms felt heavy and his eyes were consistently drifting in and out of reality. He turned his head to see Charles, who was so much closer than he had been in the past. Or maybe his eyes were just lying to him. He couldn’t tell, but regardless, it made his heart race in a good way. “Charles, I haven’t had this much fun in one day since, well since Mary. And I don’t think I’ve enjoyed anyone’s company this much since then either,”.

Charles scooted closer to Arthur on the bed, bodies barely a foot apart. “Do you think of us similarly?” Arthur goes quiet, nothing but the sweet rhythms of Santo & Johnny to block out the silence. Charles looked panicked for a moment, like he was ready to take back what he’d said.

“I mean, yeah. You’re both caring and kind, and funny, and-and beautiful-” He was cut off, his eyes fogging with the proximity of another face onto his own. He was kissing Charles, and it felt great. Charles moved closer, trying not to break the kiss, and put his hands against the sides of Arthur’s head, caressing his jawline and taking in every breath. They closed their eyes, feeling the moment and soaking in each other, like they’d finally been giving something they both needed. After only about a minute, Arthur pulled back, sucking in a deep breath. His forehead pressed against Charles’, and he felt how warm the other man was. His hands had somehow moved to Charles’ hips, feeling up the underside of his shirt and touching the skin on his stomach. 

They stayed in that position for a while, occasionally going back in to kiss each other, a reminder that the other was still there and willing for more. Arthur sat back, grabbing the roach that was the blunt and inhaling the rest of it, holding it in his mouth for a moment. He closed his eyes, blowing the smoke right into Charles’ face and giggling when the other man swatted at the air like it was a pesky fly.

That night, when the make-outs turned sloppy and their eyes were no longer able to open on their own, they fell asleep engulfed in each other’s arms, all fears in the world gone, replaced with the satisfaction of knowing that they were together and happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow! finally some fucking action! i really like this chapter and ive been waiting for DAYS to get to writing it. hope ya like it!! 
> 
> also! the updates are gonna slow down since my winter break is ending and i won't be able to have the time anymore.


	9. Mishaps and Missunderstandings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this one is short and confusing sowwey

“Arthur, it’s only eight in the morning, I promise they won’t care if we just say we slept in,” Cuddling together, secure in each other’s arms, Charles groaned as he felt Arthur stirring in an attempt to get up. That night, after they’d gotten as drunk and high as can be without becoming catatonic, and after making-out for what felt like moments but was realistically hours, they’d fell asleep listening to the crickets outside and the radio’s low hum close to each other’s bodies. 

Arthur sat with his legs over the bed, holding his head in his hands and feeling slightly relieved that he wasn’t hungover. Maybe a bit drowsy, and certainly still a bit high, but not migraine and puke level, and judging by Charles’ mood, he probably was in the same place. He turned to look at Charles, staring at the man as he scratched the underside of his chin, causing the stubble to chafe on his fingers. Charles held his arms out, grabbing Arthur by the back of his black tee-shirt and pulling him back down.

“W-Woah there,” Arthur laughed as he fell right back into Charles’ arms on the bed. Charles wrapped his arm around Arthur’s chest, bringing his face close to his neck and pressing a soft kiss there, lightly nibbling on the skin. Arthur sighed into the feeling, tilting his head to the side and holding onto the other man’s arm, occasionally squeezing when he felt a particularly sweet bite. “Ah, Charles, as much as I love his,”(and he really did), Charles pulled back from his one spot on his neck to move down to a new corner, right above the collar bone, kissing and sucking on it like it was a delicate silk. “ I feel like maybe we should get a move on pretty soon, considering we only have until ten to leave the place,”.

“ Yeah, okay,” Charles pulled back, not before leaving a kiss on Arthur’s mouth and smiling into it.

 

\---

 

By the time they made it back to the shitty hotel in Rathskeller Fork, it was almost dusk, the dirt high in the air and the moon just rising. Both the men had chatted whenever they needed to stop for gas, occasionally stopping on the side of the road to piss and maybe sneak a kiss or two in, but their main priority was getting back to camp safe and quickly. Though, as they pulled into the parking lot, there was only one bike there, Micah’s bike to be exact. The grimey man stood there against Baylock, coughing into his shoulder and wiping the spit and snot he’d spewed with the back of his hand. 

“Took you two long enough,” Micah spat, walking up to both the men as they put the kickstand down on their bikes and removed their helmets. Arthur didn’t miss the way Micah’s eyes immediately hit his neck, eyebrows furrowing closer.

“Where is everyone?” Charles, who was grabbing his water from his bag and taking a sip, spoke.

“Bill and Javier got into a little fight the other night, some dude ended up in the hospital or something. Rest of the gang headed out to an abandoned farmhouse in Armadillo, told me to stay behind incase you two decided to come back,”.

“Of course we’d come back, can’t go leaving my family like that,” Arthur groaned, his voice hoarse with frustration. “Like you’d know anything about that, you dirty pig,”.

“I’m not the one coming back from a weekend getaway with my little flamer girlfriend, covered in hickies and smelling like a fag,” Charles went in, fist first into Micah’s face. He watched as Micah stumbled back, chuckling in disbelief and grabbing the side of his face. He wasn’t bleeding, but there was sure to be some bruising on the jaw. “So you think you can just...just hit me?”

“Don’t you fucking call us fags, you crusty inbred cracker, at least we’re getting something that we didn’t have to pay for,” Charles immediately pulled Arthur back closer to their bikes and pushed the other man’s helmet on. He then secured his own helmet on, tightening the strap around his chin and checking the gas on Taima. He looked over to Arthur who was doing the same thing, already getting one foot on the gas. “Don’t meet us up, dickbag,”.

Back on the road they were, this time without one Micah Bell, despite hearing his bike starting in the background. Arthur turned his face to meet with Charles for the first time since seeing Micah. “So where in the hell are we going now?”

“We’ll go to Armadillo, tell Dutch and Hosea about what happened, and we’ll see what happens from there, I guess,”.

“I’m scared, Charles,”.

“Me too, Artie,”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ngl, i hate this chapter, but i wanna write the next chapter soon.


	10. Long Talks and Vacations

Pulling into the long dirt driveway of the old farmhouse, Arthur hopped off Archie, waiting for a second to make sure that Charles was off Taima before he walked away. Arthur was bright red, still impossibly upset from everything said about him earlier. A big part of him was upset that Charles wasn’t as visibly upset as he was, even though he knew Charles was just as angry after being told many times on the long ride over. “I’m gonna meet up with the girls and get our room set up, you gonna be okay?” Charles said, grabbing both of their bags. Something about the way that Charles said ‘our room’ that made Arthur’s whole body warm from the inside out.

“Yeah, sure, I’m gonna have a chat with Hosea and Dutch about Micah,” Arthur ruffled Charles’ hair before stepping over to front door of the farm house. It was a pretty big space, and judging by the light coming from the inside of the barn adjacent to the main house, he assumed that they were using all the space they could get. Inside, he was greeted with a large open entry room that lead to a corridor to the right, a staircase, and another living room on the left. The first sign of the gang he saw was John and Jack, reading some kind of book together on the small dusty couch.

“Uncle Arthur’s back!” Jack smiled, dropping the book and running up to Arthur to hug his legs. Arthur grinned, patting his tiny head and looking over to see John standing up and moving closer to him.

“Welcome back, brother,” John said, clasping a strong hand to his shoulder and picking Jack up into his arms. Arthur thanked him and took his jacket off, holding it tightly in his hands. In the distance, he could hear the engine of another bike, Micah’s bike to be exact, and his stomach dropped.

“You seen Hosea and Dutch? I need to talk to them about Micah,” John rolled his eyes, clearly not to fond of the homophobe either. Arthur had heard some of the awful things he’d said to Abigail since he joined the gang, and it was no surprise that John didn’t take too well to it.

“There in the master room to the right,” Arthur turned to get to the room, knocking briefly, and when he didn’t get an answer, he walked in. Hosea and Dutch were both holding each other, listening to the radio as they laid together in bed. The two men turned to face him, pulling their arms away from each other but not completely moving away from each other. Arthur closed the door behind him, sitting on a small stool to the side of the bed and looking up at his dads.

“What’s wrong, son?” Dutch asked, softly stroking Arthur’s fluffy blond hair. His face was laced with care for the boy he’d raised.

“Micah. It’s just he..he,” Arthur was afraid. He knew that the two wouldn’t care that Arthur was gay or bi or whatever, considering the fact that Arthur had known that Hosea and Dutch had been in a hidden-not-so-hidden relationship for years, but there was still a part of him that didn’t want to be out. The bigger part of him knew, however, that telling them would be beneficial to everyone in the camp. “He just needs to go. He’s been racist and homophobic and generally creepy to all the girls, and I don’t want him to ruin this family. And-And if you don’t get him out, I’ll leave,” It was an empty promise, and they all knew that, but Arthur wanted to really emphasize the importance here. He wasn’t just some little kid throwing around some big words because he didn’t like the guy, he was a grown man dealing with a monster of a person and he didn’t want anyone else to be hurt.

Hosea put his hands in his face, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He stood up, walked to the door and opened it, turning to look at Dutch, beckoning him towards himself. Arthur’s eyes followed the two, only vaguely aware of what was happening. “We’ll sort this out, Arthur. We promise,”. With that, both older men were out of the room and on their ways to speak to the creature that was Micah.

Arthur walked out of the leader’s room, back into the living room to find John in the same spot on the couch, this time with Jack lulling off to sleep, his eyes looking heavy as John brushed his hair that lay in his lap. He took a seat next to them, groaning at the aches in his bones that came with sitting at his age. “Life is surely gettin’ strange, Marston,”.

“How so?” John whispered, careful to not wake up his sleeping son.

“It’s just that, well,” With John, he didn’t really care if he accepted his sexuality or not. He knew that they were closer than that, and wasn’t too worried that he’d hate him. “I started liking someone… A lot. And it’s hard ‘cause we, we ain’t a normal pairing, if you understand me,” John nodded, clearly knowing it was about Charles. “And I worry. With people like Micah around, I don’t want to see him, o-or my crush, get hurt because of it. Sometimes it just feels safer to just ignore these feelings,”.

John patted Arthur’s leg, smiling a bit and making eye-contact. “Arthur, you are too kind sometimes. I know, when I left that year, I kept thinking at first that staying was only going to hurt the others and that if I stayed with a son and a wife in a camp of… of loners, then I’d be ridiculed and made a fool. Turned out, ignoring my family and my feelings was the biggest mistake I could’ve made,” Arthur saw the redness in John’s eyes, the sincerity of it all. It wasn’t just some fake show he was putting on, this was real to John. “Don’t just pretend to be something you’re not for the sake of some two-timed sack of shit, ya hear?” John sniffled, wiping his eyes a bit.

“I hear-” He was cut off by the front doors creaking open to see Dutch and Hosea storm in, both looking exhausted and drained. “How’d it get on?” Arthur stood up form his spot, rushing over to them. He smiled when he saw Charles right behind, big grin on his face.

“Micah Bell,” Dutch started, resting his weight on Hosea’s shoulders. “Will be taking a forced vacation from the group for a while. And if he bothers you, you tell us, son,”.

Charles came over to Arthur hugging him. “I think this calls for some fun,”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yea so fuck angst, it's gonna be all fluff(and smut teehee)from now on


	11. Bowling and Bases

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> nsfw at the end teehee

The gang grabbed their wallets and made it over to the bowling alley, all on their bikes wearing their warmest clothing in the cool desert night. The night was young, and they were ready to finally just have a night without having to worry about anybody being hurt or threatened or harming or threatening(as long as they kept Bill on limited drink access). 

Walking into the building, Arthur walked behind John, Abigail, and Jack, smiling as he watched the two parents swing their son between their arms. He missed having that young glee that came with having a kid. Jumping when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see Charles standing next to him, falling into the touch as his big hands moved down to hold him by the waist. 

“You okay with people seein’ us all, all… touchy?” Arthur questioned, looking around a bit anxiously to how Bill or Sean would react to something like this. Though after a quick scan of the group, Bill looked way too invested in bothering Kieran and Sean was desperately trying to get Karen to hold his freckled hand(he was failing).

“Micah isn’t here anymore, and if anyone has an issue with it, I think I could handle it pretty well,” Charles whispered into Arthur’s ear, pressing the softest kiss to the blonde man’s temple as possible. Arthur chuckled, letting out an airy ‘sure,’ and continuing to able with the rest of the folk to the front desk.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” Hosea said, ringing the bell at the table in front, everyone having full viewing access to the alley in front of them. The woman, a short grey haired old lady with a smile plastered on her face, turned to them at the sound of the shrill ring. “I can tell you’ve got a lot on your hands, but could we get two lanes for twenty people for three hours?” The old man asked, nothing but kindness in his eyes. His sincerity had always been one of Arthur’s favorite parts about the geezer.

“Of course, sir, y’all can go pick out your shoes to the left,” and sure enough, there was a large bin of shoes, each labeled by size and gender, Javier and Tilly going up first to get their pairs. Arthur and Charles went next, grabbing their sizes and eventually meeting with the rest of the gang to start bowling.

They were stationed at lane twenty and twenty one, both next to each other but with separate score keepers. “Who’s going to be on which team?” Mary-Beth asked as she linked arms with Tilly and smiled wide. Dutch, always the leader, began splitting the gang into two sections; The first team with Dutch, Bill, John, Tilly, Abigail, Jack, Javier, and Lenny. On the other team was Arthur, Charles, Hosea, Mary-Beth, Sadie, Sean, Kieran, and Uncle. Quite the teams.

The game started full of excitement, everyone excited and hyped to be out in the world without a fear. Arthur, when he wasn’t striking out the pins, was attached to Charles the whole time. “You two look like a right pair o’ lovers, don’t ya’ think?” Sean chorkled, falling over onto Kieran and laughing harder when Kieran screamed at the unwanted contact. Arthur only laughed that time, holding onto Charles’ hand a little bit tighter then.

 

After a solid forty minutes of playing, it was decided they would pause their games to get some pizza at the bar in the bowling alley. The pizza was soaked in oil and had the consistency of a rubber tire, but with the shitty beer they were all downing(apart from Abigail and Jack), it was perfect.

“Listen,” Bill spat, chunks of pizza and grease flying out of his mouth and landing in his beard like a snack for later. He turned to Arthur and Charles, who were across the large round table where their food lay. “Are you two… homosexual, or somethin’?” he slurred. The room tensed a bit. It wasn’t dead silent, people still having their conversations, some still eating, others taking lugs of their drinks.

“Maybe, what does it matter to you, Bill,” Arthur grumbled, his arm around Charles’ shoulders rubbing at the other man’s shoulders. Bill only shrugged, continuing to eat and drink away the night. He was expecting more, was ready for a fight, and was almost a bit upset it didn’t happen.

“Told you it would be okay,” Charles leaned his head on Arthur’s shoulder, kissing a spot where his shirt and jacket failed to conceal the skin. Though PDA wasn’t really his thing, with no one looking, all too distracted in their own worlds, he didn’t hesitate to sneak a smooch in.

\--

Two hours gone by, and the gang had made it back to their homestead for the night. The first team ended up winning, Uncle pulling the whole second team down to the gutter with his lumbago spiel. By the end of the night, everyone was tipsy or drunk, some almost tipping over on the ride back, but they made it in one piece.

“That was real nice, wasn’t it?” Arthur quietly slurred, stumbling to close the door as he fumbled with the belt of his pants. He was luckily not one of the completely drunk ones of the night(that was a title for Sean and Bill to fight for), but he was seeing fuzzy and his head felt like putty. He stripped of his shirt and pants, wearing nothing but his boxers now in front of Charles. Liquid courage, as they called it. 

“It really was,” Charles moved up to Arthur, equally as bare to the world now. He put his hands on the other man’s hips and pressed a firm kiss to his mouth. Arthur’s hands found leverage on his chest, slightly groping at the strong pecs, rubbing up and down the length of Charle’s chest. He’d never been able to feel a chest so flat, it was refreshing to feel so right in his own skin against another skin.

They migrated to their full sized bed, lips still connected and hands still roaming the dips of each other’s bodies. Charles lay on top of Arthur, his hands pulling at the seam of Arthur’s underwear. He gave Arthur a questioning glance, and after getting a close eyed nod in return, he pulled the pants down to expose Arthur’s naked member. It was smaller than his own and he enjoyed that, knowing that he was bigger than his older partner. He began stroking Arthur’s cock, kissing into the gasps that Arthur let out every time his hand moved. 

“Fuck, just-” Arthur rutted up into the touch, biting down on his lip so not to let out a moan. “Can we try it?” It didn’t take a second for Charles to realize what Arthur was talking about when he said ‘it’. Charles, equally as turned on as Arthur, quickly agreed, pulling his own underwear off and flinging it somewhere across the room for them to find in the morning. He searched around the room briefly, laughing at Arthur when he needlessly whined and groaned. “Just ask Hosea or Dutch if they have lube, or use your spit for all I care, but please, I need this,” Arthur sounded breathless and wanting.

Charles breathed out. He was not about to go ask Hosea or Dutch for lube, so spit it would be. “Don’t worry, babe,”. Oh, how Arthur’s body twitched when he called his babe. Charles slicked his middle and ring fingers, warming the liquid in the process. As he inserted them, he watched as Arthur’s eyes rolled back, his chest spasming at the feeling and his dick quaking. A few more minutes went by, a few fingers being added, before he deemed Arthur ready.

He slid his cock into Arthur’s ass, shushing Arthur as he let out a deep moan, almost cumming at the intensity. “Don’t want Javier or Mary-Beth hearing, now do we?” Arthur groaned, bumping back onto the length of Charles’ dick in him.

“Don’t you dare make me think of them right now-ah,” Charles laughed, kissing Arthur on the nose before resuming his careful thrusts into his lover. Each thrust became harder, but never faster. They were comforting and warm, and slow enough that Arthur’s love-drunk mind could handle. Charles knew this was all new to Arthur, didn’t want to hurt his man.

“Fuck, I’m gonna finish,” Arthur mumbled into Charles mouth as they embraced for a kiss. Charles whispered a quiet “good,” and watching as this big man under him crumbled. His body now like jelly for him to mold, all his. With that sight in mind and his cock still in Arthur’s ass, he pulled out and came onto Arthur’s stomach. Though wanting to collapse, he got up and grabbed his old boxers and took the time to wipe up all the cum before it dried into his skin or the blankets. Only after that, did he climb back into bed, covering their naked bodies with the thick duvet they shared.

“Hey Charles,” Arthur whispered into his ear, nothing but the cricketts to listen in on.

“Yes, Arthur?”

“I love you,”.

“I love you too,”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao this one was whack, i promise i know how sex works, i just can't write it for shit (who would've guessed the girl that's only been with girls wouldn't know how to write gay sex lmao wild)


	12. Packing Up and Heading Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is the end kiddos

Sun shone through the cotton curtains of the men’s shared room, a peaceful glow dusting everything around them. Arthur was the first to wake up, his head light with memories of the past night. He opened his eyes, brushing the crust off his lashes, before realizing he was staring right into Charles’ hair. Long and black and scented like marigolds, looking almost brown in the light of the sun. It was beautiful. He sat up from his spot to briefly get a look at Charles’ face. It was just a glance before he fell back into his position in bed, but he noticed so much in that time. The man’s face was glowing a golden hazelnut, his skins imperfections hidden by the light. His eyes were closed delicately and there was a slight smile on his face. This was what he loved; waking up to a warm body next to him, preferably Charles warm body, and realizing it wouldn’t leave him in the morning. He loved being here.

Arthur wrapped his arms around Charles’ naked chest, pushing his own naked body closer to the other man’s body in an attempt to share more heat. Charles jolted lightly in his spot, the hair on his skin perking up as Arthur began laying soft kisses along his neck. Arthur moved Charles’ long locks to the side, positioning to get better access to the dark expanse that was his neck and shoulders. He took tiny nibbles along his skin, the warmth from the sun making it all the better on his lips. He felt(rather than saw) Charles chuckle, moving back a bit to give the larger man room to turn over to face Arthur.

“What are you doin’ up before me,” Charles said in his deep coarse morning voice, thick and dry in his throat. The sentence was spoken as more of a statement than a question. Charles put his hand on Arthur’s cheek, smiling with his eyes barely open. Yet again, Arthur was able to see his face illuminated by the sunlight. ‘Heavenly’, was the word Arthur would use to describe the look, if he was to say it out loud. Though, sometimes, he prefered to keep these soft and delicate thoughts to himself, only he knew about his love and the way he felt. Wanted to keep it that way.

“I never get to see ya’ sleep. You’re real pretty,” Arthur leant down and pressed a fluttering kiss to his lips, following it with an eskimo kiss on his nose. Charles scrunched up his nose. “What? You don’t like kissin’ me?” Arthur teased, lightly smacking Charles’ chest. His cheeks warmed as Charles’ hands wrapped around his own, moving their palms over his heart. Arthur could feel how fast Charles’ heart was beating, and suddenly he didn’t feel so bad about his own going a million miles an hour.

“That’s not it at all, your breath just smells just horse shit,” Charles laughed, pulling Arthur down by the neck and bringing his face close to his broad bust. Now he could hear his heartbeat, fast and thudding loudly against his eardrums. “You hear that? That’s how much I want to kiss you right now,” His hands brushed through Arthur’s long golden locks, the thin hairs slipping past his fingers. The sun had risen comfortably and they were no longer glazed in a midas haze, the sun now washing out all features and causing Arthur’s skin to look as white as snow in the areas where the sun didn’t hit often. He breathed in the scent of Charles’ skin, noticing a strong smell of sweat and some kind of Pine scented soap. There was something so Charles about that scent.

The two tangled their legs between each others, hands on each other’s faces and eyes half closed, only opening to get glances of the other’s face to remember as they shut their eyes. They fell in and out of sleep for the next few hours - though it felt like only seconds- whenever they woke up, kissing and grabbing at skin, doodling on each other’s backs or butts or legs. It was about twelve by the time they’d woken up for good.

 

When both realized they couldn’t continue to just lay in bed for hours, Charles sat up dragging Arthur up with him. They ambled to get dressed, dragging their feet against the cold wood of the farmhouse flooring as they pulled up their boxers and slipped their jeans over their thighs(not before Arthur was able to put a firm slap on Charles ass). They walked out to the rest of the gang, strewn about the area. In the kitchen, Arthur and Charles stopped to get coffee and whatever was available for breakfast this morning.

“You two look all shiny,” Dutch came up behind them, grabbing both of them by the shoulders and smiling, before walking over to pour the three of them cups of coffee. Charles chortled a bit, grabbing Arthur’s hand and holding it tightly.

“That we do,” Arthur whispered, leaning his head on his boyfriend(boyfriend? What were they? It sounded right)’s shoulder. Dutch glanced over, the look of a proud father on his face, cut short as Hosea walked in and pat the old man on the back.

“Ah young love, how I miss those days, don’t you, Dutch?”

“I miss being young in general,” Dutch laughed, almost spilling coffee all over the floor. They ate together at the small table in the dining room, talking about their relationship and the events that led up to where they were. Dutch and Hosea told stories of how they had fallen together and their first awkward kiss.

“It was on the back of my first love, Bessie. I’ll never forget that night, when you tipped her over and I had to get a new repaint on her. I was so upset, I wanted to punch the guy, but my emotions caught up too fast and I kissed him instead!” Hosea leaned back in his chair, watching as the younger men laughed and Dutch blushed like a little kid.

“Wasn’t my fault you were awful at parking back then,”.

“You aren’t wrong,”. Arthur zoned out for a bit, watching as Charles laughed at the stories(ones Arthur had heard for years, some he’d even seen) and feeling his chest warm with joy. He was here with his family, with his lover, enjoying life. Charles must’ve noticed the staring, because he eventually leant over to press a firm kiss on Arthur’s scrambled egg covered lips.

 

By three, the two had decided to go for a ride. They watched as the yellow sand of New Austin flew past on their bikes and the cacti whizzed past them, tumbleweeds and small rocks rolling away with the wind. They weren’t sure how long they’d be out there, the sun beginning it’s decent back into the western horizon as they continued on the long road to nowhere. They were happy, in love, and still in their strange biker family. They were accepted and loved. They were together, and that was all they needed on their journey on the bikes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow! i'm really proud of this little story, and i'm happy this one could be my first on the site. idk, i don't wanna get all sappy, but seeing all of you like the story and continue to read it warms my heart so much, i'm so grateful to each and every one of you and i hope to write for you all in the coming future. LOL(lots of love) - @morgans-gang on tumblr/ maggie


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